HulkRider
by MechaUltimaZero
Summary: When Bruce meets Mephisto, he sells his soul in order to control the Hulk. However, he also winds up turning into a Ghost Rider. Now that he has a fair shot at Betty, and half a chance at a relatively normal life... what's next? Now multi-chaptered!
1. Deal with the Devil

Hulk-Rider

"Who are you?" asked the man. He had pretty much been minding his own business, when an old man wearing a trench coat walked up, proposing a deal that could 'solve most of his problems'.

Which was very doubtful… unless this guy could get total access to massive amounts of money to continue his research.

"You've never heard of me before, but my name is … Mephisto. Now tell me, Bruce Banner, how is it that I can't help you when the simple fact of the matter is, in truth, I can give you total control over the Hulk?"

"WHAT? How is that possible?"

"All I ask in return is your soul and your service as my bounty hunter, the Ghost Rider."

After a moment of brief thought, Bruce replied, "Wait, isn't there already a Ghost Rider?"

"Yes, three in fact. But two of them no longer work for me, and the other is weak, pathetic. But you, Bruce, you could very well be the answer to my problems, just as I could be the answer to yours."

Bruce was in turmoil, but he never stood a chance.

"We both know that you simply can't afford to refuse this arrangement. I mean, just think of all the innocent people that were hurt by the Hulk, and of all the innocents to come. But with my help, the Hulk will never again put the lives of innocent civilians at needless risk! You could use the Hulk to truly help people, maybe even get that windbag Ross to quit hunting you and, just maybe, he would approve of you being with Betty. You do want to be with Betty, don't you?"

Bruce Banner, AKA the Incredible Hulk, signed the contract. At the moment, he felt no ill effects. That would change soon enough. And it would begin with pain… an all but literal baptism by fire.

He began to burn, the flesh melting away. But the more he burned, the more suffered, and the more he suffered, the more he began to rage.

His agony was driving him insane… infuriating him. The adrenaline was pumping through his mutated genes, the radiation mixing with the mystic hellfire flowing through his bones.

Night had come; his pain dulled. At first clouded by anger, his mind slowly began to clear. He found himself by a lake, was both horrified and fascinated by his reflection: a flaming skeleton, like the Ghost Rider, but the flames were green, like burning ink, and this skeleton was actually taller than The Hulk, standing at nine feet and five inches tall.

Mephisto spoke from behind him.

"Bruce, I've given you complete control over the Hulk's raging strength, and, with time, you will learn to manipulate the abilities of the Ghost Rider. You can use either 'form' at a time, and, as you are now, combine them and use all the collective power of both. You are stronger, no, simply more powerful than any other Ghost Rider, in fact, you could fight all three others and win."

"_**So what am I? Ghost-Hulk? Or maybe… Hulk-Rider?"**_

"Use what ever name you like. But I've got some work for you to do. And you will comply."

"_**What is it that you want done?"**_

"Simple, Bruce. I want you to stop the Juggernaut's rampage. You may do so however you please."

"_**What've you got to do with the Juggernaut?"**_

"He's been trying to obtain a certain gem, known as the Devils' Opal. With it, he would nearly be able to take over my realm, and use its powers to destroy all humans. If he chose not do so, he certainly might anyway, because no living human, not even a Ghost Rider, could have all the powers of Hell without being either controlled by it, or else torn apart from within."

"_**And why do you want humanity saved from destruction? If they all died, you'd get a lot of souls."**_

"True, but it's a long-term investment, of sorts. If everyone died today, no potential sinners could be born tomorrow, and so after I got all of those souls, I would get no more afterwards. So the longer humanity remains, the more souls I could take. In the end, my profit will compound itself in interest."

"_**Fine. But where is he?"**_

"Don't you watch the news, Banner? He's in New York, and if you want specifics, he's going to visit the Museum of Natural History. You don't have to kill him or burn his soul, just… incapacitate him."

"_**Fine."**_

"Oh, and the Devil's Opal? Bring it to me… I let a human borrow it some time ago, and he died before I got it back."

"_**Who was it?"**_

"A man named… Faust, I believe."

_________

Bruce, in the form of Hulk-Rider, was moving at insane speeds towards NY. The night was over before he arrived, but at least he made it to Gettysburg before that.

Ghost Riders normally drove a hellfire motorcycle these days, but Bruce, being much larger, had merely gotten an equally larger motorcycle, about the size of a rhino.

As he neared the city, he reverted back to his normal self; he needed a plan. And sure enough, right on schedule, the Juggernaut appeared and started trashing the streets on his way. Chaos reigned, despite a few X-men arriving to try and prevent casualties.

"NOTHING CAN STOP THE JUGGERNAUT!"

Wolverine, Colossus, and Cyclops were going all-out, but couldn't stop him.

"Oh, yeah, well take this, you overgrown crybaby!"

Some random civilian muttered, "Whoa, I didn't know that mutant could fly, too."

And so Wolverine did fly… right into the Juggernaut's fist, and then fly back.

As the red behemoth began walking up the steps, he realized that there was a puny shrimp in his way. Just as he was about to step on the little prick, it spoke.

"You're making me angry. I don't think you want that."

And so, Bruce Banner's flesh started to become green, he grew to seven feet tall, and was even more muscle-bound than his opponent.

"**You think you're Unstoppable? Meet the Incredible."**

It was the Unstoppable Juggernaut vs. the Incredible Hulk.

And the poor Juggernaut was doomed from the start.

He leaped at the Hulk, and managed to punch him back about twelve feet, but then got his comeuppance in the form of a 20-ton punch, or that was the equivalent.

If the Juggernaut's attacks were like getting hit by a fully loaded freight train at 100 MPH, then the Hulk's were like getting hit by Mt. Rushmore at 250 MPH.

And while Juggernaut was slightly faster, the Hulk just got stronger and stronger, until he grabbed his opponent by the face (still in its helmet mind you) and threw him so hard that he didn't land until he reached The Vault.

The Hulk showed no signs of injury, but he was almost invulnerable and did have a healing factor.

His face was completely impassive. And then, he asked, **"What are you wimps staring at? Never seen a giant green guy before?"**

Then, before anyone had a chance to respond, he started morphing back into his human form—even his clothes had regenerated—and walked into the Museum. Once he was in the shadows, Bruce managed to channel some of the Ghost Rider's supernatural speed, grabbing the Opal and leaving a written note:

To the Museum of Natural History:

_This Opal is the property of Mephisto, to whom I have returned it. I am sorry for any inconvenience._

_A Ghost Rider_

Then, after pointlessly strolling around for a few minutes, he heard a magnified voice from outside shouting for him to exit with his hands up and surrender.

Calmly walking back towards the entrance/exit, Bruce muttered, "This, I believe, is the first time he's said that… and hasn't led to a few million dollars worth of damage."

Then, once again out in the daylight, Bruce casually waved to the various tanks, mechanized combat units, and other military vehicular units. He called out, "General Ross! Nice weather today, isn't it?"

The grey-bearded general was about to start yelling obscenities at the scientist, but stopped and asked, "What?" Then, remembering his megaphone, he shouted, "Banner, get in that containment unit right now, or else!"

Bruce shrugged and followed his directions, cheerfully shouting, "Contrary to popular belief, I'm not out to get you, General! No hard feelings, right?"

Still fairly confused and off-kilter, Ross merely got in his Jeep without saying a word.

____________

(A few hours later, at a secret military base…)

Bruce sat on a bed in his cell, cheerily whistling a tune he'd just come up with. The various people who had been running different types of tests on him were at a total loss regarding how he could have possibly gained control over the Hulk.

When somebody asked him, Bruce coolly lied, "I just woke up one morning, got angry, and nothing happened. Then, I turned into the Hulk on purpose, and was able to revert at will."

So, after another day or two of examinations, including both physical and psychological, his fellow scientists released him back into the world. However, not without precautions….

"Banner, I want you to wear this tracking device. We can't take the risk that whatever… apparent cure you've found might wear off and without us knowing exactly where you are."

Bruce calmly took the tracking mechanism and after a couple minutes of tinkering, applied it to his watch. As he did so, the world's foremost scientist on gamma radiation said, "Hey Ross, don't sweat it. I'm cool with a leash, at least while it's reasonable. Now then, if I'm released from quarantine, am I free to go meet my visitors… all two of them?"

The last part he'd said with a bit of a smirk.

"Fine, just go already."

Bruce walked out the door and into the sunlight, smiling as he approached his best friend and the love of his life. "Hey guys, guess who's out of the slammer?"

Instantly, both heads turned to him in shock, watching as he casually waved.

"Bruce?" they both shouted.

As they ran over to meet him, Rick asked, "Is it true—that you can finally control the Hulk?"

"As a matter of fact, I can. Would you care for a demonstration?"

Rick was slightly unnerved, but Betty had complete faith as she said, "If you want to, then go ahead."

"Alright then, just hold on a moment." He then closed his eyes, calling out to the rage inside him, taming and funneling it into calmly withheld wrath. His skin began turning green, as did his hair, and he started growing in size. But now, instead of the growth ripping his clothes apart, they merged into his body, while his pants simply stretched to fit.

Usually, when the transformation was complete, the Hulk would roar in anger, but this time, he simply said (in his altered voice) **"Top o' the morning to ya!"**

Then, he punched the ground, tearing out a huge slab of earth before crushing it in his bare hands. Then, he began to revert exactly the way he had transformed. His pants fit normally again, and his other clothes reappeared… even his glasses.

Now completely Bruce Banner again, he said, "Now you can kick me, bite me, knife me, and shoot my dog, but I still won't transform unless I consciously think, '_I want to become the Hulk._'"

Now Rick and Betty were completely awed. Rick, absolutely blown away, muttered, "This is better than… than… a year of free pizza!"

Bruce asked, "What about a lifetime of free pizza?"

Rick's eyes got a little shifty as he muttered, "Eh… that's a tie, I think."


	2. The Red Hulk

Conspiracies

Bruce had been adjusting to his now semi-balanced life quite well now, and things were really looking up.

General Ross was _almost_ starting to trust him, he and Betty were going to get engaged, and according to Mephisto, the Juggernaut business had been the most pressing of his concerns. Meaning, therefore, that there wasn't much work for him.

Sadly, Bruce knew enough about Murphy's Law (and from his own experience) that something very, very **bad** was going to happen.

Worse still, he was proven right about a month after he sold his soul to Mephisto.

_________

Watching a random show on T.V., Bruce was startled to see a "BREAKING NEWS" bulletin flash across the screen.

As it switched to footage of New York City, Bruce was even more apalled when he saw a huge path of destruction that appeared to have been caused by something relatively big, and with brute strength.

Something like the Hulk.

If he were anyone else, that's the conclusion he'd have come to.

There was only one problem with that assessment: the Hulk was completely under control, and hadn't been let out since the day that Bruce had shown Betty and Rick that it _was_ under control.

This meant that someone else had found a way to get the power of the Hulk.

This presented a problem that had to be dealt with, and quickly. His fears were only confirmed when there were eyewitness reports of a creature that had looked almost exactly like the Hulk, but had been colored red.

A Red Hulk—Bruce wondered if the madness in his life would ever end.

That was when Ross asked to see him, effectively answering with a resounding **no**.

"What is it?"

Ross sighed as he said, "What I am about to tell you is strictly classified—even more so than the gamma bomb data. Before you gained control of the Hulk, we decided that you were too great of a threat for you to live. But as you know, once you became the Hulk, you were unable to be stopped. So we created the only thing that would be able to stop you: another Hulk. But while you transformed due to anger and lost your mind, our Hulk was permanently transformed—and he retained his mental faculties. Also, where your transformation is green, the other Hulk turned red. But… we discovered that you could control the Hulk just weeks after the Red Hulk—Rulk, for short—was created. We cut him loose… and apparently, he wasn't too happy about that."

His eyes glowing green—a sign of just how angry Bruce was at the moment—he asked, "So because you of your desperation to get rid of the Hulk, you created a monster that's even worse?!"

Slamming his hands on the table, Bruce asked, "Did it never occur to you that the Hulk might never have emerged if people just left him alone?! Did you not realize that it was always _you_ hunting _**ME**_, and never the other way around? Whenever you and your war dogs found me, I did what I could to keep you from killing me, and then I ran away! And yet, you always continued hunting me! But when the media found out, I was portrayed as the villain! So tell me now, Ross: who's the victim?!"

Bruce's rant cut deeply into the general, because he knew in his heart that every word was absolutely true—he deserved whatever happened to him because of Rulk.

In fact, Ross blamed himself for the gamma blast that had turned Banner into the Hulk; and thus, he believed that all of the deaths caused in his pursuit of the Hulk—both his own soldiers and collateral damage—were on his hands.

"And that is exactly why I have to ask you to help me correct my mistake. Since you gained control over the Hulk, I did some soul-searching. I've told myself the same things that you just did a thousand times, damned myself even more than that. I'm a greater menace to humanity than you ever were, Banner—Bruce. Rulk is nearly as unstoppable as you are, but with one major difference: when you get angrier, it makes you stronger. For the Red Hulk, however, it causes him to generate more heat into the surrounding area. Hopefully, if you can make him angry enough, you'll cause him to overheat, at which point you would be able to defeat him."

Infuriated that he was being manipulated in such a way, but unable to allow more innocent people to get hurt, Bruce stormed out of the building. His eyes still blazing emerald green, no one dared stand in his way.

He didn't want to turn into the Hulk, so he didn't. But when he was angry, however, his eyes would still turn green proportionately to his rage.

It was an indicator of just how short his proverbial fuse actually was.

As soon as he was in the open air, he got on his recently-purchased motorcycle, started it up, and flew off like a bat out of hell.

Riding towards New York (Rulk's last known location; hopefully, he could get someone like Wolverine to help him track the bastard) for roughly three hours at well over the legal speed limit, it was about midnight when he felt it—the sudden pain inside his skull that signaled Mephisto's presence.

Slowing down and pulling off to an abandoned warehouse, Bruce allowed the transformation to activate.

His head burst into flames, burning away the flesh, and hair, every nerve ending until there was only the grinning face of the Ghost Rider.

He'd had to do more jobs as the Devil's Bounty Hunter from time to time, but not often—usually, Mephisto let either Johnny Blaze or Daniel Ketch handle it.

"Ah, Bruce. How've you been?"

Irritated, he replied, _**"I'm trying to find and take down the Red Hulk, so just tell me what the job is so I can get it over with and go back to what I was doing."**_

"Ah, but Rulk _is_ your job, Bruce. He did a lot of bad things when he was still human—he was a U.S. Army Spec. Ops officer guilty of more crimes than I have time to list, when he was offered a chance at being pardoned in exchange for undergoing a test program that would, in theory, make him strong enough to kill the Hulk. Since he's no longer needed, he's gone berserk and is even worse than before. I'm simply going to tell you that he isn't in New York anymore—he just did that to get your attention. Now, however, he's going to challenge you to a public fight in L.A. My only real stipulation here is this: when you fight him, first beat him down so he'll learn his place. And when it comes time to kill him, use the Penance Stare. By all rights, his soul is mine."

Deciding that all in all, this was as good of a development as any, Bruce nodded, got astride his hell-cycle, and turned around, now heading for Los Angeles.

________

With a warehouse full of hostages, the Red Hulk demanded that the Hulk come and allow himself to die, or else Rulk would start killing. Nobody could even get close to him, since the surrounding area was over 50 degrees above the rest of L.A.

It was around midnight, and Rulk had threatened that unless Banner arrived in another few minutes, he'd start killing hostages.

And right on time, a raging green giant roared into the area, trying to pummel Rulk into submission. However, just as Ross said, the angrier Rulk got, the more heat he started creating, until the asphalt beneath the titans' feet began to melt and evaporate.

Managing to get a powerful blow to the face in, Rulk briefly dazed the Hulk as he picked up and threw him fifty-odd feet away.

Getting back to his feet, the Hulk resumed grappling with Rulk as he demanded, **"What the hell is your problem, private?! Just where the fuck do you get off trying to kill innocent people?!"**

Partially caught off guard by Banner's profanity, Rulk momentarily faltered in the struggle, and Bruce pushed him back.

However, as the continually building heat began wearing down Banner's own concentration, the red giant regained his ground. (**A/N: Try saying that five times fast, I dare ya.**)

Rulk replied, **"It's all your fault, Banner! I had damn near everything and was just about ready to kill you when you finally fucking learned how to control the Hulk! I would've been cleared of everything if it wasn't for you! All I have left anymore is my power and the rage of the Red Hulk!!"**

Then, with a savage roar, Rulk picked Banner up off of the ground, slammed him brutally on his knee hard enough to snap a five-foot-thick steel girder in two, and then slammed him into the ground, forming a crater fifty feet wide and twenty feet deep.

However, a bright green-and-red flash blinded Rulk and everyone else in the area, and when it subsided, there no longer stood the 7-foot Hulk.

Now, there was a massive skeleton ten feet tall, covered fully in luminescent green flames as words were spoken in a horrible voice: _**"Vengeance will flow through my body!"**_

Grinning like a monster from Hell, the flaming monster said pointed at Rulk and said two words that sealed the Red Hulk's fate: _**"You. Guilty."**_

Now running faster than the Hulk ever could, the Hulk-Rider lunged at Rulk, pinning him to the wall as he said, _**"Look into my eyes. Your soul is stained with the blood of innocents. Feel the agony they suffered at your hands."**_

And thus, Rulk's body turned to a pile of solidified sulfur as his soul was destroyed by the Penance Stare.

Breaking the stone sculpture apart with a quick jerk of his arm, the Hulk-Rider gave a savage roar of victory before the gamma-mutated Hellfire began to wane, reverting him into the Hulk, and finally, to Bruce Banner.

As he fell unconscious from exhaustion, the last thing he saw before darkness claimed him was Betty's face….


End file.
